Written by Fianne van Laar
In In the Spotlight we shine a light on a member of our global community. We discover who they are, what their role is and their connection with Serve the City. Today, we’re proud to introduce Corlea Human!
Corlea is the chairperson of Serve the City International since mid 2023, when she took over that role from Alfredo Abreu. Before that moment, she has already been the vice chairperson before that and is involved with Serve the City since 2012, when she was the City Leader of STC Nyon (CH).
Our communications team did a short interview with Corlea, to shine a light upon her and her position within Serve the City:
Who are you and where you are from?
My name is Corlea Human. The shortest answer to « where I am from », is that I have lived and worked in the UK with my family for the last five years. We moved from South Africa, where I was born, to Europe, 27 years ago.
What is your role within STC?
I am the chairperson of the Board of Directors of Serve the City International, an association which is registered in Belgium.
Why are you involved in STC?
I identify with STCi’s values, to the extent that I am willing to defend those values while making a difference through acts of kindness towards people in need.
I am involved with STCi in the role of chairperson because the overlap of this stage of our movement’s growth, and my skillset, forms a sweet spot, which is challenging and exhilarating at the same time.
Corlea on a volunteering project in Morocco
What is for you distinguishable about STC?
STCi’s unique selling point is its circular values-in-action approach of everyone volunteering. STCi endeavours to minimize waste in how its services are produced and consumed based on five phases that are part of a circular value chain. These phases are:
– identifying serving opportunities according to people’s needs,
– preparing to execute,
– executing and managing,
– monitoring and evaluating and lastly
– spinning out to the next loop of five city life stages.
These loops repeat until the city has reached the fifth and final, hub, stage. This circular motion enables STCi to embrace sustainability, making it socially, environmentally, and economically responsible.
Could you tell me about an STC project or an experience you had with STC that you’re proud of?
I am proud of every STCi project because I know that volunteers give generously of their time and skills, making a big difference to people in need.
To be more specific, against the background of the role I play in the movement at the moment, a highlight was our General Assembly in December 2023. What could have been just another administrative task to be ticked off, it was a celebration of our STCi members’, CEO’s and COO’s, Board of Directors’, Global Executive Team’s, Global Operations Team’s, and Daily Office Team’s hard work of the previous six months:
- We unanimously approved a budget that looked positively different to any budget we’ve approved before,
- agreed on STCi’s first three policies on financial management, fundraising and the environment that would help us guide our movement’s decisions and actions,
- formally defined five city life stages from Interest, Starting, Active, Sustainable, to Hub,
- and decided to invite five honorary and three associate STCi members.
The only sad affair was that our STCi BOD Honorary Secretary’s resignation was accepted!
Besides her role as chairperson, Corlea is Network Coordinator of Serve the City Africa together with Lynn Nwagbara. They support new and existing city leaders in expanding their projects and finding a sustainable network to serve their cities.
Are you interested in serving your city? Find out more about how you can get involved.
